Zachary ignoring them earlier had already irked Victor Hargrove, so he simply took the opportunity to pick a fight, even bringing up his relationship with Jessica.
Jessica Shae, standing nearby, frowned slightly. She had only agreed to spend some time with Victor, and for him to directly say they were dating made her feel a little displeased.
It was then that Zachary finally looked up, glancing indifferently at Victor, and uttered a single word: "Oh."
Victor's mouth twitched. What was wrong with this guy? Wasn't it rumored that he was very fond of Jessica? How could he be so indifferent now, despite such provocation?
Jessica also looked at Zachary in surprise. She, too, felt that Zachary seemed different from before.
"Heh heh heh, as expected of a useless Baron—a piece of trash who has accomplished nothing," Victor attacked again.
Levi Warren could no longer tolerate it and pointed directly at Victor: "Victor Hargrove, don't push your luck."
"What are you? If I am a useless Baron, then you are worse than useless. If I recall correctly, you failed your final exams for three consecutive years. If it weren't for your father pulling strings, you would have been expelled long ago," Zachary glanced at Victor, speaking the most damaging words in the calmest tone.
"You…" Victor was enraged and humiliated. This was his sore spot, what he most disliked others bringing up in front of him.
"So what if I have connections! My father has even arranged a T2 starship for me for the next semester! I bet you'll only be able to bring out a T1 starship then. I remember there will be live combat drills, and your T1 starship will probably become a target, hahahaha…" Victor laughed heartily.
[Triggered 'Random Quest': Challenge Victor Hargrove to a Starship Duel and defeat him in the duel.]
[Would you like to accept?]
Zachary's expression changed. He hadn't expected a 'Random Quest' to be triggered at this moment.
Defeating Victor… that was a bit difficult. But compared to the previous seasonal quest, it was much simpler.
The most important point was that completing the quest, besides the currently uncertain quest reward, would also grant a quest point.
Although Zachary currently had system points, items in the system store could not be exchanged freely; exchanging an item required corresponding quest points.
For example, T1 tier items required one quest point and corresponding system points. And quest points were precisely what Zachary desperately lacked at the moment.
"Don't blame me for being blunt—facts are facts. I advise you, instead of wasting your time here and humiliating yourself, you might as well roll back to your remote interstellar territory early," Victor said, seeing Zachary stunned by his words. He thought his words had hit Zachary's weak spot.
Jessica watched all of this indifferently. Victor might be a bit excessive, but if this could make Zachary realize the gap between them and retreat gracefully, then it wouldn't be bad.
At this moment, Zachary's lips curved upward.
"Who's humiliating themselves is still uncertain," Zachary looked up, making direct eye contact with Victor for the first time, his gaze filled with provocation and amusement.
At the same time, Zachary's mind stirred.
Confirm Quest Acceptance.
[Random Quest accepted.]
[Quest Content: Challenge Victor Hargrove to a Starship Duel and defeat him in the duel.
Quest Difficulty: D-rank
Quest Reward: One quest point and 300 points
Failure Penalty: Deduct 300 points]
So there was a failure penalty—a direct deduction of 300 points.
One must know that Zachary currently only had 100 points in his account. If the quest failed, wouldn't it become a negative number?
"You, a guy who can't even secure a starship, what right do you have to speak here! If I were you, I'd pack my bags and scram already. You don't even have the right to stay at North Star!" Victor angrily pointed directly at Zachary's nose.
A fallen noble should just quietly accept humiliation. Why did this guy repeatedly refuse to play by the rules?
"Since you're so confident, how about we have a Starship Duel?" Zachary took out a card from the collar of his academy uniform.
It was the academy's student ID card, which could be used for studying, living, and various other activities within the academy. This also included starship duels.
"Starship Duel? You and me?" Victor was first stunned, then burst into laughter. He stood up and walked directly to Zachary's table: "You, a guy who doesn't even have a starship—what will you fight me with? Are you worthy?"
"The time is certainly not now. There is still a month until the end of this semester. Let's set it before the end of June, and I will tell you the duel time then. If I lose, I will automatically withdraw from the academy next semester. If you lose…" Zachary narrowed his eyes, staring at the other party.
"I'll withdraw!" Victor said in response.
At this moment, the turn of events had exceeded the expectations of Jessica and Levi.
Levi stood up, pushed Victor away, and stood in front of Zachary: "Victor, if you have the guts, duel me with a starship!"
Victor glanced at Levi, spread his hands, and chuckled: "Everyone saw it—this starship duel was proposed by Zachary."
Levi's father had considerable influence, and Victor was unwilling to stir up unnecessary trouble.
"Levi, let me handle this myself," Zachary placed his hand on Levi's shoulder.
"But…"
"If you still consider me a friend, then trust me," Zachary said seriously.
Levi gritted his teeth, only able to glare indignantly at Victor.
And at this moment, a holographic projection box appeared between Zachary and Victor.
[Third-year student Zachary Chase has issued a Starship Duel request to third-year student Victor Hargrove, time tentatively within one month. Please confirm.]
By now, the commotion had attracted quite a few people.
One must know that starship duels were very rare, as they belonged to the category of actual combat, and starship duels inevitably led to hull damage and even casualties. So North Starship Military Academy only had about four or five such starship duels a month.
"Although I don't know where you get your confidence, I will make you regret your decision today," Victor disdainfully took out his ID card and accepted Zachary's starship challenge.
At this point, the duel information between the two had been entered into the academy's database, awaiting only the final time confirmation.
"Levi, are you done eating? If so, let's go," Zachary wiped his mouth, his calm expression as if nothing had happened.
"Huh?… Oh, I'm done eating…" Levi had no appetite now and left the cafeteria with Zachary.
Victor looked at Zachary's retreating back, a sneer on his face.
A guy who didn't even have a starship dared to duel him? He would be the one to lose face then.
"Jessica, don't worry. As long as I defeat him and make him get out of the academy, he won't have a chance to bother you anymore!" Victor looked at Jessica, already in the posture of a victor.
"Mm…" Jessica was also watching Zachary's departing figure, wondering why she felt that Zachary had changed so much.
Most importantly, she just realized that, up until now, Zachary had never truly looked at her directly.
Had he truly forgotten her? Or was he deliberately pretending?
For some reason, Jessica felt a touch of resentment.